114 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Vipers. 



Kwallowed it. There it lay torpid, and bloated to 

 double its ordinary dimensions. How it accom- 

 plished the act is not known, but we may imagine 

 a fearful strapele to have taken place, as wreathing 

 round each other they battled for the mastenr; un- 

 less, indeed, the victim was itself torpid, and inca- 

 pable of resistance. 



2266.— Thb Tiokr-Python 

 (Python tujrit). This splendid species is a native 

 of India and Java, and is often brought over to 

 England for exhibition. It was, we believe, from 

 one of this species that Mr. Cops, the keeper of the 

 lion office, was in imminent danger, as narrated by 

 Mr. Broderip. The animal was near shedding its 

 skin, and consequently nearly blind, for the skm of 

 the eye, which is shed' with the rest of the slough, 

 becomes then opaque, when Mr. Cops, wishing it to 

 feed, held a fowl to its head. The snake darted at 

 the bird, but missing it, seized the keeper by the 

 left thumb, and coiled round his arm and neck in a 

 moment. Mr. Cops, who was alone, did not lose 

 . his presence of mind, and immediately attempted 

 to relieve himself of the powerful constriction by 

 getting at the snake's head. But the serpent had 

 so knotted himself on his own head, that Mr. Cops 

 could not reach it, and had thrown himself on the 

 floor in order to grapple with a better chance of 

 success, when two other keepers coming in broke 

 the teeth of the serpent, and with some difficulty 

 relieved Mr. Cops from his perilous situation. Two 

 broken teeth were extracted from the thumb, which 

 soon healed, and no material inconvenience was the 

 result of this frightful adventure. 



Fiff. 22C7 represents one of these pythons in the 

 act of darting upon a small animal. 



22G8. — The Port-Natal Python 



{Python natalensis). This snake is a native of South 

 Africa, where it was discovered by Dr. Andrew Smith, 

 who observes, that either this species, or one very 

 like it and of equal size, was formerly an inhabitant 

 of the districts now within the Cape colony, and that 

 the traditions of the older Hottentots abound with 

 instances of its miraculous powers. At present, he 

 says, it is not to be found within hundreds of miles 

 of the boundaries of the colony, and few specimens 

 nave been obtained nearer than Port Natal. He 

 informs us that it occasionally attains a very large 

 size, and, accordinsr to the natives, individuals have 

 been seen whose circumference was equal to that of 

 the body of a stout man : Dr. Smith himself saw a 

 skin which measured twenty-five feet, though a 

 portion of the tail part was deficient. " It feeds," 

 he continues, " upon quadrupeds, and for some 

 days after swallowing food it remains in a torpid 

 state, and may then be easily destroyed. The South 

 Africans, however, seldom avail themselves of rid- 

 ding themselves of a reptile they view with honor, 

 as Uiey believe that it has a certain influence over 

 their destinies ; and affirm that no person has ever 

 been known to maltreat it without, sooner or later, 

 paying for his audacity." Fig. 2269 represents the 

 upper surface of the head. 



It would appear from the same authority that a 

 python common in India (P. bivittatus) is found 

 also in Western Africa ; and that specimens from 

 the latter locality are in the museum at Fort Pitt, 

 Chatham. 



2270. — The Bengal Eryx 



{Eryx bengalensis). The genus Eryx was first se- 

 parated from boa by Daudin ; it differs in having a 

 very short obtuse tail, and in wanting the hooks at 

 the base ; the ventral scuta are narrow ; the head is 

 short, and scarcely exceeds the neck, and is covered 

 above with small scales. Of the habits of this spe- 

 cies little is known. Fig. 2270 includes a delineation 

 of the abdominal and subcaudal plates. 



2271. — Thb Tehtacled Hebpeton 

 (Herpeton tentaculatus). Erpeton tentaculatus, Lacd- 

 pcde ; Rhinopirus tentaculatus, Merrem. 



In this remarkable snake, an example of the genus 

 Herpeton, the muzzle is furnished with two soft ap- 

 pendages, covered with scales ; the head is covered 

 with large plates ; the abdominal scuta are small ; 

 the tail is long and pointed, and covered beneath 

 with the same kind of scales (squamae) as above. 

 There are no hooks or rudimentary limbs. Of the 

 use of the two singular appendages to the muzzle 

 vre can give no account, nor are the peculiar habits 

 of this snake understood. With the figure are 

 delineations of the head, and under surface of the 

 tail. 



2272 —The Kakoo Bokadam 

 (Coluber Cerberus, Daudin). Genus Cerberus of 

 Cuvier. 



Cuvier places the genus Cerberus near the py- 

 thons, observing that, as in those serpents, the whole 

 of the head is covered with scales, the anterior por- 

 tion only, including the eyes, being protected by 



plates (see Fig. 2273, the Head of Cerberus). There 

 are no hooks, and the sulicaudal plates are some- 

 times double, sometimes simple. 



Russell, who describes this species in his work 

 on Indian serpents, obser^'es that the head, though 

 somewhat broader than the neck, yet appears small 

 in proportion to the trunk : a little convex above, 

 compressed on the sides, and projecting into a short 

 obtuse snout, on which the eyes and nostrils are 

 situated. The snout is covered with small laminae 

 of various forms, the rest of the head with small sub- 

 orbicular carinated scales. The mouth is not large ; 

 the jaws are nearly of equal length ; the teeth close 

 set, regular, small, reflex ; a marginal and two 

 palatal rows in the upper jaw. The eyes vertical, 

 small, orbicular, protuberant ; each situated in the 

 centre of a remarkable circle of small triangular 

 laminae. The nostrils very small, vertical, near to 

 each other, and close to the apex of the muzzle. 

 The trunk is thick, round, covered with large cari- 

 nated oval scales. Length three feet four inches. 

 General colour dark grey above ; the head almost 

 black, under parts dusky yellow. 



Dr. Russell adds, that his specimen, from which 

 the figure is taken, was sent from Gangam in July, 

 1788, and that he never saw one alive. He remarks 

 that, notwithstanding its suspicious appearance, the 

 want of poison organs proves that the snake is not 

 formidable. 



An allied species, Cerberus cinereus. Cantor, is 

 described in the ' Proceeds. Zool. Soc' 1839, p. 55. 

 It is a native of Bengal, where it is termed by the 

 inhabitants Jul Ginthea. 



From the innoxious serpents we may now pass to 

 the section containing the venomous races. There 

 is something peculiarly repulsive in the appearance 

 of venomous serpents ; their thick broad head, their 

 sparkling eyes, and their wide jaws, give them a 

 ferocious expression, from which we involuntarily 

 recoil. They appear as if confident of their deadly 

 weapons, and when irritated or opposed assume an 

 attitude of defiance, and prepare to inflict the fatal 

 stroke. All are ovoviviparous. If we examine the 

 skull of one of these deadly reptiles we shall find 

 it modified very differently from that of the non- 

 venomous races, on many important points. Let us 

 take the skull of the Rattlesnake as an example. 

 See Fig. 2274. 



In the firet place, the upper maxillary bones or 

 jaws, which in the python and common snake, &c., 

 we see long, thousrh free, and armed with a row of 

 teeth, are each reduced to a short rounded bone, in 

 which the poison fang is implanted ; this bone is 

 moveable or rotatory, and is supported posteriorly by 

 a long slender pedicle, the external pterygoid bone, 

 also moveable, governed by certain muscles ; hence 

 it follows, that when this slender bone is retracted, 

 the small maxillary bone rotates backwards, and 

 the poison fang is received into a fold of the gum 

 fitted for its reception ; but when the external 

 pterygoid is pushed forward, the maxillary bone 

 rotates anteriorly, and the poison fang is thrown 

 forwards ready to inflict the wound. Behind this 

 poison fang there are germs undeveloped, ready on 

 its loss to occupy its place, at least after the lapse 

 of a short period. Passing from the maxillary to the 

 palatine bones, to which the external pterygoids are 

 articulated, we see them furnished with a row of 

 ordinary simple teeth. 



The lower jaw is long and slender, and articulated 

 to the skull by a long and slender tympanic and a 

 slender mastoid bone, all moveable, whence the 

 gape of the jaws is very wide. The lower jaw is 

 armed anteriorly with simple teeth. 



With respect to the structure of the poison fangs, 

 we must observe that they are so constructed as to 

 enclose a tube or channel, leading from a large 

 poison gland, and conveying the deadly fluid to the 

 very bottom of the wound. This tube is not pierced 

 through the substance of the fans:, but is exterior to 

 it, and formed by a fold of its edges, which are .sol- 

 dered together. This pecuiiarity is well described 

 by Professor Owen, who observes that " a true idea 

 of its structure may be formed by supposing the 

 crown of a simple tooth, as that of a boa, to be 

 pressed flat, and its edges to be then bent towards 

 each- other, and soldered together, so as to form a 

 hollow cylinder open at both ends. The flattening 

 of the fang, and its inflexion around the poison duct, 

 commence immediately above the base, and the 

 suture of the inflected margins runs along the an- 

 terior and convex side of the recurved fang : the 

 poison canal is thus in front of the pulp cavity." 



Such is an outline of the structural peculiarities 

 in the jaws of the more typical poisonous snakes, as 

 Vipera, Naja, Crotalus, Trigonocephalus. In others, 

 however, there is a row of teeth more or less nu- 

 merous, behind the poison fangs, and in the upper 

 maxillary bones. In all the family of marine ser- 

 pents, the poison fang is only the foremost of a row 

 of fixed maxillary teeth ; four or five in number on 

 each side. Such is also the case in some of the 

 terrestrial genera, as Bungarus, in which there are 



from three to five grooved teeth, behind the great 

 fangs ; and in Hamadnr'as, the huge poisonous tree- 

 snakes of India, in which the same peculiarity oc- 

 curs. Hence Cuvier divides the venomous serpents 

 into such as have isolated poison fangs, and into 

 such as have other maxillary teeth also. 



Fig. 2273 represents the poison gland, its duct, 

 and the fang of the Trigonocephalus : a, a, the 

 Poison Gland; b, the Duct; c, the Fang; the letter 

 indicates the position of the slit from which the 

 poison passes into the wound. " The poison glands," 

 says Professor Owen, " occupy the sides of the pos- 

 terior half of the head ; each consists of a number 

 of elongated narrow lobes, extending from the main 

 duct, which runs along the lower border of the gland, 

 upwards and slightly backwards; each lobe gives 

 off lobules throughout its extent, thus presenting a 

 pinnatifid structure; and each lobule is subdivided 

 into smaller secerning caeca, which constitute the 

 ultimate structure of the gland. The whole gland 

 is surrounded by a double aponeurotic capsule, of 

 which the outermost and strongest layer is in con- 

 nection with the muscles by whose contraction the 

 several cseca and lobes of the gland are compressed 

 and emptied of their secretion. This is then con- 

 veyed by the duct to the basal aperture of the 

 poison canal of the fang. We may suppose that, as 

 the lachrymal and salivary glands are most active 

 during particular emotions, so the rage which sti- 

 mulates the venom-snake to use its deadly weapon 

 must be accompanied with an increased secretion, 

 and great distention of the poison glands; and as 

 the action of the compressing muscles is contempo- 

 raneous with the blow by which the serpent inflicts 

 its wound, the poison is at the same moment in- 

 jected with force into the wound from the apical 

 outlet of the perforated fang." 



It would appear that one venomous serpent can 

 kill another by the bite, at least if it be of a distinct 

 species : for it seems that individuals of the same 

 species may bite each other with impunity. We 

 believe also, that if in its rase a serpent bites itself, 

 no symptoms are produced. Russell says that Cobras 

 bite each other without any consequence ascribable 

 to the poison, but they kill other snakes. 



The huge poisonous Hamadryas of India, often 

 twelve feet in length, habitually preys upon other 

 serpents, darting at them, and killing them by 

 poison, after which it gorges them. The Naja of 

 Southern Africa has been known to kill and swallow 

 the poisonous puff-adder (Vipera arietans) ; and 

 it is asserted that the rattle-snake will seize and 

 kill the poisonous Moccasin snake, and afterwards 

 swallow it. 



The poison of serpents acts more or less quickly 

 and decidedly, according to the species, the vigour 

 of the individual, the quantity thrown into the wound, 

 and the season of the year. Contrary to what Fon- 

 tana and M. Schlegel assert (who says it is neither 

 acid nor alkaline), the poison of these reptiles turns 

 litmus-paper red, invariably displaying acid pro- 

 perties. (See Cantor, ' Zool. Proceeds.' 18.37, p. 75, 

 note ; and Harlan, ' Med. and Phys. Research.' p. 

 501, sq.) 



It is a remarkable fact that, as far as hitherto 

 tested, the poison of snakes may be swallowed with 

 impunity, provided there be no abrasion of the skin 

 of the lips, or any part of the mouth ; hence when a 

 person is bitten by one of the reptiles, the best way, 

 if a cupping-glass be not at hand, or cannot be ap- 

 plied, is to suck the wound as forcibly as possible. 

 With this fact Celsus was well acquainted. His 

 words are, " Those persons who are called Psylli 

 have not indeed any special knowledge, but bold- 

 ness confirmed by habit ; for the poison of a serpent 

 is not injurious when tasted, but when instilled into 

 a wound. Therefore, whoever, following the ex- 

 ample of the Psyllus, will suck the wound, will be 

 both safe himself, and save the sufferer. But this 

 point must be fairly settled, that no ulcer be either 

 in the gums, the palate, or any part of the mouth." 

 With respect to the various specifics so confidently 

 recommended, they are of no use. .Ammonia used 

 as an internal medicine after the poison is drained 

 from the wound, and the free application of olive 

 oil, appear to be the most efficacious; the great aim 

 must be to keep up the energies of the system ; to 

 extract the poison, or neutralise if possible its active 

 properties. 



I' ortunately only one poisonous snake, the bite of 

 which is however seldom fatal, exists in our island, 

 viz. the Viper. 



2276, 2277.— The Viper 



(Pelif's Bertis). Adder ; Vipera vulgaris, Latr. ; 

 Vipeiii communis. Leach. 



The characters of the head are seen at Fig. 2278. 



The common viper is spread over Europe, and is 

 tolerably frequent in many parts of England, giving j 

 preference to dry woods, sandy heaths, peat lands I 

 and sunny banks, and similar places. In Scotland ■ 

 it is more numerous than the common snake. In 

 some parts of Yorkshire vipers are abundant, and 



